Hide the crack
After doing the body lift, the TJ has an unsightly "butt crack" at the rear, and another ugly "crack" at the front. I'll hide those cracks with a little "makeup for Jeeps" (metal and rubber).
Before you ask, no, that's not my real license plate number.
I bought an aluminum flat, 1-1/2" wide, 1/8" thick, and 6 feet long. Prices are all over the place, from $22 at Ace to over $50 at the other big box stores. If you have a real metal supplier near you, you may be surprised that you can buy the same piece in 16 or 20 foot lengths for under $20. Mine gives me one cut free, because hauling a 20 foot piece of flimsy metal in a TJ is, well, complicated.
I'll mount it to hang from the tub, even with the back, and curving around the body lift pucks to attach to the tub flange. There are three holes in the back of that tub flange where standoffs will hold the crack cover, and a hole at each end where the plastic access flaps for the tub corners are held with plastic plugs. I'll use those holes to attach the ends of the cover.
The tub flange is about 1-7/8" in from the back edge of the tub. I'll need standoffs about that long, minus 1/8" for the thickness of the aluminum cover.
I bent one end of the flat bar around a 2-3/8" pipe to 90°. This curve approximates the curve of the body pucks and the corners of the tub.
I held it in place under the tub, checked fitment, and decided on spacing for the other bend (the total length should be about the 50", the same length as the bumper). The curves should reach about 1" beyond each body puck. I marked it, keeping in mind where the curve should start and end. I bent the second curve into the flat bar around the pipe to 90°.
I held it in place again, and marked both ends for trimming. The first curve needed 1/4" trimmed off, and I took about 18" from the other end. I filed the ends square and smooth.
I cut three pieces from a 3/4" round of aluminum, and trimmed them to 1.810" long (determined by experimentation with a piece of wooden dowel). I drilled them lengthwise with a 3/16" bit, and countersunk them a little. None of the local hardware stores even carry this stuff any longer, so a real metal shop, or Amazon, will get you some.
I cut two 1/2" long pieces from aluminum angle, 1-1/2" wide by 1/8" thick. These will be used to attach the ends of the cover to the tub flange. I held everything in place on the Jeep and marked the parts for two screwholes in the crack cover and the angle brackets. With the angle brackets attached, I held it on the Jeep again and marked the hole to go into the tub flange. I also marked the three holes for the standoffs, and drilled everything to 3/16". I countersunk the three holes in the crack cover for flat head screws.
I used all stainless hardware: three 2-1/2" flathead #10-32 screws, nylock nuts, and fender washers for the standoffs, four 1/2" panhead screws and nylock nuts for the little end brackets, and two 3/4" panhead screws and nylock nuts for the tub flange.
Note: At first I used panhead screws and washers for the three standoffs, so some of the pictures will show those. But I didn't like the look, so I switched to flathead screws.
I polished the aluminum crack cover with a heavy duty Scotch-Brite pad (the coarse one for non-coated cookware) and wiped it down.
I laid the crack cover on the bumper, and slid three 2-1/2" stainless #10-32 flathead screws in place, and with the aluminum standoffs behind them. With enough prodding, I got the crack cover in place, with the three screws through the flange holes, and the angle brackets around behind the tub flange.
I screwed everything in place.
I added a couple of washers between the angle bracket and the tub flange on one side to bring the crack cover forward a little, touching the body puck, to make it even with the bottom rear of the tub.